Top 10 reasons I loved Divergent

 

 

 

 

 

I watched the movie first, and I fell in love. Then I watched it again, and I fell even more… Then I started on the series, I was a goner.

Here is the Top 10 reasons Veronica Roth made The Divergent Series my new favourite thing… (yes, this list may contain spoilers, beware)

1. Tris – This is officially one of my favourite female book characters (right up along with Katniss, Ginny, Hermione and Luna), she was who she was, no apologies, no explanations.
2. Tobias (Four) – Do I honestly need to explain how amazing Four is?
3. All of the other very great characters, even Eric, Peter and Jeanine. They were so well written, developed, you got to know them and never doubted who they were.
4. The factions, the world they existed in, the compound. Once again, every thing was so well written, so  believable and true.
5. Making me read 3 books, 1005 pages in 6 days! It had to be a great book for me to be that invested
6. Being so much better than the movie. I had my doubts honestly, but it was AMAZING how much more the book was, how much better
7. The love between Beatrice and Tobias… I know she was only 16 and he 18, but you know what, they were amazing together. She made him more, he made her better, and the were perfect for each other. They fought, they loved, they drifted, the rescued themselves, and the believed, that above all else, they were each others’. They were beautiful. perfect.
8. Tris and her extreme emotions. You would think it would get annoying, being that invested in a 16-year olds feelings, but she was consistent and when she changed, she had great reasons for it.
9. No happy ending. Every complained about the ending in the reviews I read, and I thought, oh crap, I’m gonna hate it. But you know what, I didn’t. I like the fact that we didn’t get the happy ending, because that is life. And the perfect happily ever after would’ve been predictable, and as I gathered from the rest of the series, Ms. Roth don’t do predictable.
10. Great writing… Maybe not perfect (there are other words for SAY!!!) but really good thought out plot lines, well-developed characters and consistency.

What did you love or hate from the Divergent-series?

Love always,

M

 

Review: Anna and The French Kiss

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris–until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,beautiful, Étienne has it all…including a serious girlfriend. 

[summary and picture from GoodReads]

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Rating: 8/10

What I liked: Almost the whole thing… I enjoyed Anna’s POV, as she told the story as I would’ve lived it. It was real, it wasn’t trying to pretend that love is easy or simple or uncomplicated, and it showed that even if you are so convinced you love/like someone, there might be other reasons for you and him/her dating. I enjoyed the writing style, and really liked the characters! St. Clair is officially my new book boyfriend, well after Augustus Waters…

What I disliked: I drifted of every now and then, found myself skipping a paragraph or two, which usually means one of two things, I really like the book and want to skip ahead to find out what is happening, or I don’t like it that much and want to skip ahead to finish it… But the second I drifted of, I got pulled in again.

Why would I recommend this book: Because every now and then, we need to remember how absolutely wonderful first love is, and how wonderful it can make you feel.

Quotes that stood out… “I ask myself, if the worst happened – if I did get knocked up – would I be embarrassed to tell my child who the father was? If the answer is anywhere remotely close to yes, then there’s no way”

“The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.”

“His friendship alone has strengthened me in a way no one else’s ever has.”

[Disclaimer notice… This is my own personal book journal, my opinions and thoughts… And I hope they don’t offend anyone]

Love Always,

Marliz3e

Top Ten Thursday – Comfort Reads

I love to read, under all circumstances, but when I get weird, I really dive into books…

And by weird, I mean sorta sad… I dunno how to explain it, I’m not a sad person, I’m a bubbly, happy-go-lucky type of girl, who rarely shows when something upsets her. But when something does get under my skin, it hurts like hell…

I’m not the type of girl who crawls into her bed when her heart gets broken, or eat tubs of ice-cream and wallow for hours. I simply read and convince myself that I’m moving on and will be fine. That’s how I deal.

But when those sad days come, there is a few select books I gravitate towards. Some I will actually grab to read, even if I’m busy with something else, some I will just yearn for, but these are my ‘comfort reads’

1. All and Any Harry Potter
2. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
3. The Gargoyle – Andrew Davidson
4. Stolen – Susan Lewis
5. Any John Green
6. Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. Any Jackie Collins
8. Hannibal- Thomas Harris
9. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
10. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

What books do you read when life gets too much?

Please share!

Love always,

Marliz3e

(All images from this pinterest page of mine)

Book Review: The Girl who loved Tom Gordon

The Goodreads Summary:

Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, she listens to baseball games and fantasizes that her hero will save her. Nature isn’t her only adversary, though – something dangerous may be tracking Trisha through the dark woods

Author: Stephen King

Rating: 4/10

What I liked: The narrative form the little girls POV, it made me feel like I was stuck with her in the woods, like I was being haunted by It. I didn’t love the storyline, but it was okay… 

What I disliked: I expected more? I don’t know, I just wasn’t thrilled by this book, I won’t recommend it, and I probably won’t reread it.

Why would I recommend this book: I wouldn’t…

Quotes that stood out… “Maybe when my mother started rubbing her temples with the tips of her fingers, it wasn’t because she had a headache but because she was trying to keep her brains from undergoing spontaneous combustion or explosive decompression, or something.”

“Now the socks were little more than holes held together by strings, and that made her feel like crying again (probably because she herself felt like holes held together by strings”

[Disclaimer notice… This is my own personal book journal, my opinions and thoughts… And I hope they don’t offend anyone]

Love Always,

Marliz3e

WWW Wednesday – 12/3

A prompt post from here…

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

Die reuk van koffie – Koos Kombuis, an Afrikaans book bought on sale  Quentins – Maeve Binchy

• What did you recently finish reading?

The girl who loved Tom Gordon – Stephen King

This was my first SK book, and I’m on the fence whether to try another…

• What do you think you’ll read next?

I really want to try the Divergent-series…

Share yours!! =]

FWF – This house

http://kellieelmore.com/2014/03/07/fwf-free-write-friday-image-prompt-16/

FWF, always a good thing, from the amazing Kellie =]

This house has a story…what is it?

Image Credit: We Heart It

 

I sit

I wonder

What has this house seen

The families

Passing through

 

The lover quarrels

The make up sessions

The love

The hate

The hurt

The healing

 

I walk around

I think

This is perfect

So alone

So separate

So perfect

 

Why is it sad

Why is it crying

In the rain

 

Will some one save it

Will some one destroy it

Will I save it?

Will it destroy me as well?

As all those before…

 

 

Questions on books…

I saw the above picture on Pinterest and I thought, i just have to blog my answers to this very pressing questions!

Hopefully it will be as interesting as I think it will…

(I’m gonna answer this with the first thing that pops into my head, not with a lot of thinking involved…)

1. The first character I fell in love with… Has to be Ron Weasley =]
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now… I’m starting to think this is going to be a Harry Potter post, because the answer is of course, Professor Snape
3. The character everyone else loves, but I don’t…  This is a tie-up between Finnick Odair of the Hunger Games ( I like him, but he is not that awesome…) and, of course, every single Twilight character…
4. The character I love, that everyone else hates… Gimme a second… I know there is someone, but I just can’t remember…  The only one I could think of now is Draco Malfoy…
5. The character that I used to love, but don’t anymore…  My vote is on Sansa Stark of The Song of Fire and Ice, but that will probably change again…
6. The character I would totally smooch… Jon Snow, Song of Fire and Ice…
7. The character I’d want to be like…  Toss up between Arya Stark and Hermoine Granger
8. The character I’d slap… Joffrey Baratheon. No questions asked…
9. A Pairing that I love…  Peeta and Katniss =]
10. A pairing that I despise… Edward and Bella… Romeo and Juliet… Cliche’s mostly…

Please give this a go! I enjoyed it so much, and could probably do this for one book alone as a review… *IDEA!!!*

Link me if you do decide to do the Q&A.

Love always,

Marliz3e

Musing on reads…

Musing Mondays (Mar. 3)

 

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.  I love reading. Point. In my opinion, there is never a bad time to read, only people who don’t want you to read. And I can read almost anywhere! In bed, in the bath, on the sofa, whilst on the treadmill/stationary bike, outside, at work. Anywhere… But one of my reading habits is to pull my face along with the expressions in the books, if they are smiling, so am I. Laughing, frowning, whatever. Chances are I am doing it as well… =]

• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). The last books I remember buying was ‘How to eat a Cupcake’ (can’t remember the author) for myself, because it sounded so cute, and I just can’t resist a sale… The other one was, on the same trip, a recipe book, revolving around chocolate, for my sister, whose favourite thing in the world (besides cupcakes) is chocolate.
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! Divergent! I saw the movie trailer, and I’m a complete sucker for ‘based on the novel’-movies. But only if I read the novel, so I need to read it, asap. Also, the next installment in the Bloodlines-series, because Sydney is the best heroine ever…
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it. Right now I’m reading 3 books… Why? I dunno, exactly… I’m reading ‘The girl who loved Tom Gordon’ – Stephen King… My first Stephen King, and it’s going slowly, as I am trying (for the first time EVER) not to rush through a book. Also, ‘Quentins’ (dunno the author), this booked I picked up at work as I had nothing else to do and it was on one of the million bookshelves, waiting for me. And, lastly, ‘Rachel’s Holiday’ (also forgot this author), which i also picked up at work. I’m enjoying all of them a lot…
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! As much as I love books being made into movies, this is my rant for today, why are they doing it so shittingly? I watched Vampire Academy over the weekend, expecting a lot, because the books was AMAZING, and I was disappointed… Why do something if you are not gonna do it good?! *sigh*

That concludes me musing on books for today… As soon as I have finished one of the above ‘currently-reading’ books, I will try to do a review!

Love always,

Marliz3e

Nothing, but…

You’d think there is a way

For a writer to express herself

With words

 

To say what she feels

In a few simple lines

 

But then again.

Why this need,

to express every

thought

feeling

moment, with you.

 

You are nothing.

Nothing but

a fix I need

A daily dose

administered consistently.

 

A tornado

who entered

and left

But did not destroy

Did not ruin

 

Because there wasn’t much left.

There wasn’t much to destroy.

 

Nothing left.

Nothing

but the need to love.

To feel

To share

To be.

 

But that got lost…

Got lost with you.

In the tornado of carelessness.

The world of pretend.

The vacuum that is no more…

Book review: The Casual Vacancy

So, I finished this amazing book by JK Rowling yesterday…

Before I start raving about magnificence of Rowling, let us do the review… 🙂

Author: JK Rowling

Rating: 9/10

What is was all about: The easiest way to explain The Casual Vacancy is basically small town gossip…. lol, it revolves around the town of Pagford, it’s town council and every one involved… There is twists and turns as only Rowling can do it, and I have never enjoyed reading a ‘boring’ book as much as this one…

What I liked: The characters…. the way she introduces them, the way she made them and most off all, the way you immediately fall in love with every single one of them, that later you root for everybody! And then of course there is the fact that the book is written amazingly. I started reading the book, and thought, oh gosh, this is going to be sooooooooo boring, its not my usual type of book, it’s not my usual type of story, but i loved it…

What I disliked: I did find it a bit tedious in beginning, as if it just would not get started, but then it did, and boy was I glad I stuck to it…

Why would I recommend this book: If you’re looking for another Harry Potter, don’t read it. But if you are looking for a book that will make you rethink your life choices and who you are… Then this is a must read!

[Disclaimer notice… This is my own personal book journal, my opinions and thoughts…]